Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-14
THE QUESTION AT ISSUE.


putants really mean. Not a few people
give it up in dispair and conclude that
the intricacies of internal customs, taxa.
ton and tariff for revenue, or for pro-
lection are past finding out. They con-
clude that thes questions are to be
understood by statesmen alone.
There are few people who can
not understand the workings of
our system of national taxation
by very limited amount of study of the
subject. What is called internal rev.
enue taxes is a tax levied on home pro-
ducts or industries. For instance, tax
is levied on tobacco, distilled liquors and
oleomargarine. If.there be a tax of
cents per pound put upon oleomargarine
the manufacturer of the article must pay
that to the government. This 2 cents
per pound is added to the cost. The
manufacturer pays the government the
cents; the wholesale merchant pays it
! back to the manufacturer and
the retail merchant pays it to the
wholesale merchant; the retail merchant
charges the extra 3 cents per pound to
the man who buys the oleomargarine to
eat. And as the man who buys the ole
margarine can not slide the 2 cents along
to someone else. he is the one who pays
the government tax on oleOmargarine
What is true of the oleomargarine in
this respect is also true of the internal
revenue tax levied on tobacco and
whisky. The people who chew and
smoke the tobacco and drink the
whisky, wine and beer pay the gov
eminent tax. This is a tax on
consumers and cannot be said in any
way to protect American labor. A tar
if tax, or that collected from foreign
imports, is a tax levied upon goods man
ufactured in foreign countries when they
are shipped into this country for sale.
There is also in certain cases a tariff tax
levied ON raw material: for instance,
there is a tariff tax levied on foreign
matter of tariff taxes the amount of such
tax paid to the government is added to
the cost Of the article and the con-
sumner pays the tariff as in
the case of internal tax on tobacco and
oleomargerine. 1t is estimated that rev.
enue received by our government from
IN, nd i,ta al oil
legal expenses of government: pay all
dues of government, and by June next
will leave in the treasury one hundred
and thirteen million of dollars. This is
called the surplus.
The vast amount Of surplus remaining
in the treasury is just SO much money
taken from the business of the country.
Taken as it is from the legitimate chan
nels of trade, thereby diminishing the
circulating medium of the country, its
depressing effects are felt in all the vari-
Gus business interests in our land. That
taxation should be limited to tho necessi-
ties of the government is a matter about
which there should be no dispute. That
the present surplus should be reduced is
conceled by everyone having the inter
est of his country at heart, But the
question of how to reduce the surplus is
the one great question now engaging the
attention of statesmen.
The president recommends that the in
I. 4
spirituous liquors, and that the tariff be
reduced on foreign manufactured goods.
The Democrats claim that tariff taxes
cost the people many times more than
the amount of such taxes received by
government, because the home manu-
facturers, on account of these import
duties. are allowed to sell their goods
that much higher. For this reason the
Democratic party are in favor of retain
ing the internal revenue tax and cutting
down import duties on foreign
manufactured goods and on
foreign wool The Republicans are in
favor of a reduction of internal revenue
taxes, and the retention of the tariff on
foreign manufactured goods for the very
purpose of enabling the home manufac-
turer to sell his wares just that much
higher.
The Republican party believe by so do
ing they will protect the American
laborer to the amount of the tax col
lected on foreign imports. This is what
mean when they resolve in
favor of protective tariff. We
will illustrate this more full
Iy. We now have paper
knife in our possession made in
Bethlehem from sea shell. Col. Stew
art says the men employed in the indus
try get twenty cents for days work.
Now suppose these things could be
brought to this country and sold for forty
cents each, but an American, in order to
pay the wages which our workmen re-
ceive. would have to sell his knives for
sixty cents, the Republican party would
say levy tariff of twenty cents on the for
eign article in order to protect American
labor The Democratic party of tariff for
revenues only would say we are not in |
favor of protective tariff, and if the |
Americans cannot make these knives for /
forty cents, they can work at some |
thing else.
The principle involved in this one I
is identicany the same prin- /